


The Beauty and the Beast

by sugasneckpillow



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gangs, M/M, Slow Burn, They're both messed up, Violence, delinquent! daniel, may have steamy scenes in the future, panwink is a side pairing sorry, top student! seongwoo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-03-22 22:23:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13773813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugasneckpillow/pseuds/sugasneckpillow
Summary: Daniel never would've thought he would run into his school's highly reputed top student in a dark alley and witness him fighting instead of studying at home like the good kid everyone sees him as.





	1. Chapter 1

“It should be around here…” Daniel takes a look at the paper in his hand and frowns. He's not big on finding directions without an actual GPS or any sort of dependable electronic device with that function.

He turns to his left.

The crease between his brows deepen.

That's not right. Why would they tell him to meet at such a shady place?

Daniel stares down the dark alley. It's near dawn, and the buildings towering over them are creating eerie shadows around the place. He can't seem to see what's on the other end of the black alleyway.

 _Guess I'll have to figure it out myself,_ he thinks, ruffling his hair in confusion.

A few steps into the darkness and he's already feeling pretty bad about the place. It's dark, it's moist, and it smells fishy. Both literally and metaphorically. He wrinkles his nose. What an unpleasant place to be in.

There's no way they could have told him to meet here, Daniel decides. He rolls his eyes and is about to stride back out into the dimming light until he hears a loud _clang_.

Daniel halts in his steps and listens.

Another _clang_ rings in the air, followed by what sounds like a man’s painful yelp. A few sharp yells pierce the air, along with some metallic sounds.

It's a fight, damnit.

He's participated in so many fights that he can simply tell with the sounds what is happening. It sounds like there are a few people ganging up on someone with metal weapons in hand.

Daniel sighs, looking down at the piece of paper, and then at the back where the sounds keep coming.

Oh, fuck that. What’s worse, being late to a meeting with an anonymous person or leaving, knowing that he might have just left someone to die in this alley? He shoves the piece of paper into his pocket and walks deeper into the dark alley, squinting his eyes in the dark to make out the figures that are engaging in the fight.

Then he sees them.

A surprised expression lights up his features.

Daniel seems to have misunderstood the situation _a little_ just from the sounds.

He stares in awe at the men collapsed on the ground, and shifts his gaze from the unconscious bunch to the almost illuminated silhouette of an individual. The sight doesn't last long, because ten or so men close up on the individual and shield him from Daniel's sight.

What an unfair fight this is!

The individual is _strong_ , no doubt. Judging by the scene, he's single handedly knocked out around fifteen equipped people with… his bare hands!?

Then again, in the midst of all this marvelling, Daniel is reminded again however beastly the individual is, he is still human. The figure looks exhausted, shoulders rising up and down with rapid breaths. He must've also received some damage. Daniel sees him clasp a hand over his shoulder, entirely drenched in sweat, and perhaps even blood. In this darkness, he can't exactly tell.

The individual knocks out another man with some techniques, which Daniel recognizes with difficulty as taekwondo. His movements are swift, but Daniel can see that the wounds and his fading stamina are dragging the individual down.

In the midst of the fight, his eyes meet briefly with the individual.

“There he is! It's him!” The individual suddenly shouts, pointing at Daniel's direction.

Before Daniel has time to process anything, the black figures surrounding the individual start to turn to Daniel. They seem to halt any of their attempts to fight the individual anymore, and to Daniel’s utter horror, they start walking towards him.

_What? What is this situation?_

Daniel backs down a few steps, narrowing his eyes at the individual. He can make out the tall, slender figure of a man. He can see his ruffled hair, some strands draping messily over his face. Now that the individual is no longer surrounded or suppressed, he is able to step into the rare rays of light shining down the alley.

Daniel’s eyes widen at the familiar face, anger rising in his throat.

_That little shit-_

He has absolutely no opportunity to lunge at the familiar individual, because the men who had once targeted him have now started attacking Daniel. They are merciless in their actions, swinging their metal pipes with full power, as if they are fully prepared to _end him_.

Daniel grits his teeth and kicks at the black clothed man on his left side, causing him to lose his footing. Daniel headbutts him roughly, making sure to make him lose consciousness before grabbing at the metal pipe in his hands. Then he drops down to swing the weapon at their legs, making three or four men lose their balance. The others pounce on him, but he's too quick for them, dodging to the side before they manage to crush him with their weights.

“Ong Seongwoo!” Daniel roars, before landing a punch on one of the men who stands up from the fall. “What do you have against me?”

Said person brushes his sweaty strands of hair backwards, handsome face glimmering with beads of sweat under the dim light.

Daniel catches sight of his cold expression between the shadows of the men, sending a shiver running down his spine.

The men almost immediately crawl back up, looking more irate than earlier when one of them smashes the metal stick into the wall next to them, the sharp sound ringing out and disturbing the peaceful silence.

Daniel raises his own pipe and smashes down on the shoulder of one of the men, triggering a pained scream. He doesn't halt in his movements, aggressively swinging around the pipe to strike the men in places that aren't fatal but would cripple them enough for him to escape.

By the time he's finished disabling the men, he drops the pipe onto the floor, breathing heavily into the cold air of the night.

Daniel raises his head and looks between his drenched fringes.

Ong Seongwoo is gone.

 _That fucker_ , he thinks, clenching his fists. Daniel had wanted to help him, and this Seongwoo simply pointed all these men to him, making him the target instead.

He takes out the crumpled piece of paper in his pocket and sighs.

_Damnit._

* * *

Kang Daniel arrives at school in a stinking bad mood, and no one dares approach him since the start of the day except his good friend, Park Jihoon.

“Look at you,” Jihoon clicks his tongue disapprovingly as he surveys the bruised patches on Daniel’s face. He raises a hand to touch the band aid on the upper left of his forehead. “Must've been a pretty bad fight, huh.”

“What do you think?” breathes Daniel, a deep frown plastered on his face.

“So what caused this? Did one of those big gangs pick a fight with you, or did you accidentally flirt with some angry man’s girlfriend-” Jihoon stops and sighs. “Or is it your father?”

Daniel storms into the classroom, body tensing at the mention of his father. The moment he slams the classroom door open, the students greet him briefly and go back to their respective activities, as if his attitude is something they've already warmed up to.

“You'll never guess who it is.” He nearly slams his school bag on his table with an irked expression on his face, negativity rolling off him in waves. “Ong Seongwoo.”

Jihoon freezes, his hand still stubbornly clinging onto his school bag strap.

It takes him a while to digest the information, but the moment he does, he nearly jumps a mile away from Daniel. “I heard wrong, didn't I?”

“No.” Daniel plops onto his chair, while Jihoon settles down slowly at the seat in front of his. 

“You mean Ong Seongwoo,” Jihoon stares at him in disbelief, “As in the famous Ong Seongwoo from the elite class?”

Daniel nods, staring at his bag in a daze.

“What does he have against you?” Jihoon questions incredulously.

Daniel shrugs. “I don't know. I’d never even imagined talking to those arrogant elite class bastards.”

“Wait,” Jihoon grabs his arm, a thought suddenly occurred to him. “Don't tell me you're planning to confront him at school.”

It's Daniel’s turn to look at him in disbelief. “What better opportunity is there to talk properly to him about what happened?”

“But our class and their class…” Jihoon trails off, shaking his head.

Class 6D.

That was the class that Jihoon and Daniel belonged in. Class 6D is one of the worst classes of the grade, composing of delinquents, isolated minorities and those who challenged the teachers’ authority but do not have a worthy parents’ backup. In short, they are the outcasts of the grade, and students that are not from their class would not dare step foot in their classroom.

Ong Seongwoo’s classroom is located in the other end of the floor. Class 6A. The Elite Class, that's what people called it. In contrast to 6D’s hopeless segregated bunch, they are looked up to by many for their incredible grades, talents, and most importantly, their background. They are the absolute pride of the school that have helped bump its way to the top of Korea’s high school rankings.

They are located at such far ends for a reason. No one wishes for them to cross paths.

Daniel, however, seems to have other ideas.

That's why, during a rare free period that is shared throughout the grade, Daniel finds himself striding down the hall towards the 6A classroom with a panicked Park Jihoon trailing after him.

Daniel slams the door open, ignoring the screams of some girls and the angry yells from the male students as he grits his teeth at yesterday's memory.

“I’m looking for Ong Seongwoo!” He growls into the classroom.

The class immediately silences itself the moment they digest the name of Daniel’s target. All heads seem to turn to the same direction, and Daniel traces their sight to a slender figure by the window.

The person shuts the book he’s reading and places it gently on the table. The silhouette that Daniel had seen in the dark yesterday is now fully lit by the sun rays and classroom lights. He has a delicate figure, one that fits the image of a good student, an exact opposite of Kang Daniel’s rough masculinity through years of fighting. He is extremely good looking with pale clear skin and proportioned features; the icy coldness that he radiates makes him even more attractive.

Ong Seongwoo crosses his legs as he turns his head towards Kang Daniel, looking not one bit startled from the direct addressing of his name.

“Is there a problem?” His voice shatters the silence in the room and replaces it with a wintry atmosphere.

“Is there a problem!?” Kang Daniel repeats, his voice raising as anger latches onto him like the memory of yesterday. “You tell me, Ong Seongwoo!”

Before Jihoon can stop him, Daniel walks over and snatches him by the collar, pulling him close till their noses almost touch. He glowers at Seongwoo, who remains calm in the situation, coldly staring back with equal dominance.

“I see your pretty face is not injured at all,” Daniel says as he narrows his eyes. “How about I wreck it for you?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I changed the fic's title because the current one suits this more and I DON'T WANNA SEE ANYMORE SHAKESPEARE RELATED STUFF  
> Enjoy!

“How about I wreck it for you?”

The threat hangs in the air, freezing up the atmosphere in the classroom. Some of the female students look like they’re about to cry, while the male students exchange complicated glances, wondering if they should notify the teachers about this.

“Kang Daniel, watch your words,” Seongwoo says, piercing cold gaze meeting the raging glare of the person in front of him. “We’re in a school, not on the streets.”

“Oh, so you know who I am,” Daniel sneers, tightening his grip on the boy’s collar to the point that his knuckles turn white.

“Of course I do,” Seongwoo says, breathing out a laugh that lacks any warmth. “Is there anyone in this grade who doesn’t?”

Every time Seongwoo speaks, he seems to push every single one of Daniel’s buttons. His matter-of-fact tone, the emotionlessness in his voice, and that perfect, pretty face… everything about him just seems to straight out _mock_ Daniel.

“Let me say the same for you, Ong Seongwoo,” Daniel snarls as he pushes Seongwoo to the wall, inducing concerned gasps and shouts from the surrounding students. “Top student with straight As, rich kid, school principal’s nephew. The one who never drops from the number one rank.”

Seongwoo’s expression changes up a little, switching into something that’s less neutral and more on the irked side. Daniel sees a flash of pain the moment he crashed him onto the wall, but that only brings a smile on his face, now that he’s able to break Seongwoo’s cold facade.

However, instead of throwing back a witty comeback (or a punch, that would’ve been great) like Daniel had hoped, Seongwoo turns his face to the side with a soft huff, as if Daniel’s face disgusts him.

That’s it. There’s a limit to how long Daniel can hold his temper.

Daniel raises his arm and is about to land a blow on Seongwoo’s face, when someone suddenly puts a hand on his shoulder.

“No violence allowed in the classroom.”

Daniel turns and see a tall boy standing behind him, a frown crossing over his fine features. He notices something common among the students in this class; they all look like they are unharmed children that have been under shelter ever since they were born. This boy that had stopped him from hitting Seongwoo has fair skin that is just as pale as Seongwoo’s; he’s wearing his uniform the most proper way possible, with his suit buttoned up and the dress shirt under it perfectly ironed. 

Daniel’s eyes shift to the band on his sleeve and raises a brow.

“Student council president?” Then this boy must be the rumoured Lai Guanlin.

The boy takes his hand away from his shoulder the moment Daniel lowers his arm from Seongwoo’s face. Lai Guanlin doesn’t look like he’s older than him, but there is something about his aura that makes Daniel want to listen to him.

Daniel snorts. Perhaps that’s just the charisma of a student-voted student council president.

“Let go of Seongwoo before I go to the disciplinary department,” Guanlin says with a sharp glint in his eye. Daniel can tell he’s not joking, but that kind of threat is useless against him. The teachers have given up on him and his class anyway. It's not like they could call his parents either; his mom, who actually _cared_ , is now rotting away in the soil, and his father is probably at one of those gambling stores again.

To humour this president boy, Daniel lets go of Seongwoo’s collar. Seongwoo resumes his cold expression, calmly smoothing out his ruffled shirt as if he hadn’t just been threatened to be punched.

“Thank you,” Guanlin says, though he hardly sounds sincere. He gestures towards the door. “Please head back to your classroom and stop disturbing our students.”

Daniel is about to open his mouth to retort when Jihoon lays a hand on his shoulder and stands up to Guanlin.

“You should at least let the two of them settle this issue outside the classroom, no?”

Lai Guanlin looks down at Jihoon with narrowed eyes, drawing out a long pause as if he is pondering on something.

“They should settle this outside of school grounds with rational measures,” the boy finally says, eyeing the two students involved and then shifting his gaze back to Jihoon. “And from what I’ve observed, Seongwoo seems to have no intention of talking to…” The boy gestures to a half amused, half annoyed Daniel.

“He’s Daniel,” Jihoon tells him, hostility seething through his calm voice. “They need to sort out something. All I’m requesting is a short while for them to talk. It’ll benefit both parties.”

Daniel crosses his arms and peers at Ong Seongwoo. The boy is leaning back against the wall, looking somber as usual.

After a while, the student council president makes his decision, though he still looks unconvinced. “Alright,” he says. “But no violence. You two may talk in the corridor.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes and brushes past Lai Guanlin, heading out the classroom first. He seems to have had enough of the airs of the people in this class.

Following Jihoon’s departure, Daniel grabs Seongwoo’s arm, almost dragging him out by force. He doesn't actually need to put in that much strength, since Seongwoo seems to have no intention of struggling or defending himself.

With a loud _wham_ , Daniel slams the door shut behind them. It seems that Jihoon has already left for their own classroom at the other end of the corridor, trusting in Daniel to settle this on his own.

The moment they exit the classroom, Seongwoo flings off his arm without much difficulty, using his other hand to rub at the area Daniel’s fingers had mercilessly wrapped around. Daniel gaze lingers on the reddening area on Seongwoo’s wrist.

“Make it quick,” Seongwoo says, snapping his fingers in front of Daniel to gain his attention.

Daniel’s eyes flicker from his wrist back to his face, exhaling slowly through his nose in a poor attempt to control his temper.

“What happened yesterday night?” he says slowly.

“You were there. You witnessed everything,” Seongwoo responds, looking not one bit concerned as he brushes his hands on the fabric of his trousers.

“You know what I meant,” mutters Daniel through gritted teeth, suppressing his boiling rage with all the strength he could muster. Good God, whatever this man says, it just happens to strike his most sensitive areas. “Don't make me ask you twice.”

“I'm not quite sure of what you want to hear,” Seongwoo says, looking at him as if he’s the strange one here.

“Ong Seongwoo!” Daniel makes a guttural sound when he grabs again at Seongwoo’s collar. The poor white shirt twists in his grasp, revealing the pale white skin on the side of Seongwoo’s neck and exposing the beautiful dip of his collar bone.

Daniel pauses, cursing under his breath. _Just what does this man eat or do to make himself look so..._

Taking advantage of the break between Daniel’s actions, Seongwoo suddenly grabs Daniel’s wrist and turns his arm into a different angle, swiftly pressing him onto the wall and cuffing his neck with a cold hand. Seongwoo bends himself over Daniel as he speaks into his ear, hot breath fanning over his skin.

“Stop being so violent, or I won’t give you any of the answers you want.”

As soon as he finishes his sentence, Daniel breaks out of his daze and immediately pushes Seongwoo away. The other boy seems to have predicted the movement, allowing himself to be shoved to the side. As a result, Seongwoo bumps roughly against the wall and breaks out a soft hiss, hand flying up to clasp on his shoulder.

Daniel stares at the shoulder. Perhaps he'd gotten it injured yesterday?

“You got hurt?” Daniel says before he could stop himself. He immediately regrets it the moment he asked. _Damn_. It sounded like he cared or something, but he really didn’t.

Seongwoo frowns at Daniel and takes away his hand from his shoulder, letting it drop limp by his side. “Yes,” he says simply.

Daniel draws his gaze away from his shoulder. “Who were those people yesterday?”

“My dad’s people.”

“Your dad’s?” Daniel looks at him, shocked. “Why would-”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Okay.”

Seongwoo looks at him with a searching gaze, seemingly surprised at the quick agreement. 

It’s not like Daniel doesn’t want to give Ong Seongwoo a hard time, but if those are family matters, Daniel doesn’t have any intention of butting in. After all, he comes from a shitty family too, and he wouldn’t want other people sticking their noses into his business either.

“We could have fought together,” Daniel mutters, calming down gradually as the anger slowly fades away. “But instead, you-”

“I had to get away,” 

To Daniel’s annoyance, Seongwoo has the tendency to speak only one or two sentences. His answers seem to lead on to more questions, and Daniel can’t help but think: _what a curious man he is!_

Daniel stares at him in utter disbelief. He’s not even angry anymore; he just finds this all ridiculously humorous.

“Well, are you going to apologize?” Daniel says, exasperated. If anyone were to tell him that Ong Seongwoo were a robot, he’d believe it. It seemed like the boy had everything on automated response.

“Sorry.”

The cold apology almost renders Daniel speechless. The moment is so anticlimactic that Daniel wonders whether he’d really gone through this much trouble for this kind of insincere apology.

“One more question before I leave,” Daniel says, seeing no reason to argue if the boy is going to continue being like this. “What do you mean ‘it’s him’?”

It’s certainly strange, the way Seongwoo had just pointed at Daniel, shouted those two words and caused every one of those men to suddenly see Daniel as the target.

“I meant you were my boyfriend,” Seongwoo says casually.

“I- What?”

“Third period’s almost over,” Seongwoo shifts his collar back into place before heading back into his own classroom. “No more questions.”

* * *

“And you’re just going to ignore what he did?” Jihoon asks incredulously. “Are you kidding me?”

“What?” Daniel mutters, rolling his eyes as he picks up his pace on the road. “He apologised. And I want nothing to do with him anymore.” He cringes as he recalls the cold smile on the Ong Seongwoo’s pretty face and his rich kid aura.

“So what?” Jihoon exclaims, looking like he couldn’t believe his ears. “He landed some punches on you for no reason and you’re just going to let that slide?”

“Hold on,” Daniel says, frowning as he turns towards Jihoon. “I never said he punched me. And it’s not like he’s capable of doing that.”

“What?” Jihoon’s eyes widen, halting in his tracks. “Wait, so what on earth actually happened?”

“Uh…” Daniel’s not so sure himself. “I was going to meet up with my dad’s customers… and I got lost? Then I bumped into Ong Seongwoo fighting with a gang of men in black clothing.”

“He was fighting a gang?” Jihoon’s ears perk up in great interest. “Ong Seongwoo?”

“Well… they’re hired.”

“What? What?” Jihoon looks like he’s about to jump up and down from the excitement of new gossip. “And when do you come in? Don’t tell me you were trying to help Ong Seongwoo.”

Daniel frowns and says nothing, and Jihoon snickers, throwing an arm around his shoulders to prompt him to continue.

“Then I got attacked by the men.”

“Fair enough. But why were you so angry this morning if you clearly brought such disaster to yourself?”

“Oi.” Daniel flicks Jihoon’s forehead irritatedly. “It’s complicated. All you have to know is that Ong Seongwoo is an ungrateful little shit and that I wouldn’t have been injured if it weren’t for him.”

Jihoon hums in response, letting his arm slide so he can pat Daniel’s back. They walk in silence down the road, enjoying the temporary peace as much as they could. 

They treasured having each other by their side; both had complicated backgrounds and troublesome families, making warmth and companionship something that is even more rare and precious to them. People may see them as delinquents, outcasts, or whatever they would like to call them… but those were just images they had put up as a wall of defense, covering up the scars that were inflicted upon them at home.

“What are you planning to do after you graduate?” Jihoon says in a quiet voice, breaking the silence.

“Start working,” Daniel says without hesitation. “Can't be under my old man's care forever.”

“Oh.” Jihoon says, eyes dropping to the floor. “My parents want to send me to the States for university and then have me take charge of their overseas branches.”

“That sucks,” Daniel murmurs.

“It does.”

They stop in their tracks at the crossroad, ready to part ways. Jihoon lives in a richer district, while Daniel lives at the exact opposite side, where people would often call the slums of Korea.

“Call me whenever you need help,” Jihoon says, waving briefly before he heads to the other direction. “I’ll be there.”

Daniel appreciates the support Jihoon always gives him, despite having such troublesome family matters of his own. He owes Jihoon too much and he knows that. Jihoon had the money while Daniel hadn’t, and he was always the first one to offer financial aid or whatnot, even when he didn’t request it. Though Daniel never had accepted and never would accept any money, he was grateful for what Jihoon was willing to do for him. Jihoon just seemed to know whenever he was in great need for help, somehow. That itself comforted him to a great extent.

Daniel decides that he should no longer trouble this good friend of his so that Jihoon doesn’t need to have more problems adding to his own.

By the time he arrives home, it’s around five o’clock in the afternoon. His father must be home from the gambling, then.

Daniel takes out his keys and roughly turns the lock, pushing open the squeaky door and closing it behind him. He has to duck when he enters his home; after all, it’s only a storage place. It’s the best thing he can manage with the amount of money they have right now.

The sound of glass crashing onto the ground rings in his ears, and his hand immediately freezes on the doorknob to the living room. 

His heart pounds against his chest, his hand inevitably shaking from the slight fear of the sounds of the commotion that seeps out of the room. It must be another of his old man’s tantrums… but today, it seems like it’s gotten a lot worse.

With a deep breath, he grasps the doorknob and turns it, opening the door slowly and peering in. “I’m home-”

A glass bottle smashes the wall next to him, some shards flying into Daniel’s face and piercing the tanned, bruised skin. Daniel winces and lets the door swing open by itself as he turns to the outraged man in the room.

“You fucking shit, how dare you come back home after what you’ve done!” The man in the room snarls at him, the stench of alcohol infiltrating the room as he speaks. Daniel can see all the shattered glass bottles and empty cans of beer pitifully laying around in the room.

“Oh, and what have I done?” Daniel hisses, gritting his teeth as blood trickles down his face. The shards are too small; without a mirror, he can’t pull them out.

“What have you done?” The man raises his voice, a rotten smile crossing his features, showing the yellowing and decaying row of teeth. “What have you done? You shitty excuse of a son, you bastard, you made me lose my job, and you ask me what you ’ve done?”

“What?” Daniel takes a step back, the shards on the floor piercing the soft skin of his foot. But he can’t care less about that. Making his old man lose his job? What does he mean? He’s sure he’d delivered the the package _just a little late_ yesterday…

“I told you to be on time, didn’t I?” The man points a shaky finger at him as he wavers on his ground. “Do you know who my customer was, yesterday? It’s that fucker’s underground partner!”

By _’that fucker’_ Daniel assumes that he meant his boss, the one who had tormented his father with piles of work while underpaying him. 

“And so?”

“It was an urgent matter. Urgent, you hear me?” The man nearly screams at him, aiming another glass bottle his way. Daniel barely dodges, the glass again hitting the wall beside him. “You were ten minutes late. Ten! And then he got me fired!”

“If it was so important, then why didn’t you deliver the package instead?” Daniel retorts, boiling anger rising within him. “You were wasting all our money on gambling, weren’t you? You were out there, _enjoying yourself_ , while I was the one working.”

“You dare speak back to me? You insolent brat!” The man roars and approaches Daniel, his fist coming down on him hard. Daniel squeezes his eyes shut, gritting his teeth as he feels a punch land on his cheek. The heavy blow causes him to stagger and fall onto floor, his hand coming in contact with the shards again. The man takes his chance to grab onto his collar, swinging another full blown punch at his face. In an instant, Daniel tastes copper in his mouth, the numbing pain slowly engulfing him whole.

“When your mom died, the only wish she had was to send you to a good school. So I did, with all the money we had! But you, you ungrateful fucker,” The man growls at him, his stinky breath of alcohol hitting Daniel and making him nauseous. “You keep getting on my nerves!” 

Daniel sucks in his breath and allows himself to be beaten up quietly. _It’ll be over soon,_ he tells himself. This time, his old man seems to be in horrendous rage, and therefore Daniel expects the worst for himself. 

If he can live, then good. But if he can’t, it’s Fate. And he will never fight with Fate itself.


	3. Chapter 3

Daniel’s not at school today, Jihoon observes.

Though Daniel may not necessarily be ‘good top student’ material (not even close, taking into account all other aspects), he’s rarely missed a day of school. And when he _does_ skip school, it’s usually for inevitable reasons, like having to help his dad with his work or being sick. However, he’d always notify Jihoon if he couldn’t make it to school.

But today, it's different. Daniel has vanished without a sound.

Jihoon hasn’t heard from Daniel since yesterday after school. That boy hasn’t read a single text from Jihoon nor answered his ten or so phone calls, which is not only strange but extremely worrying. It doesn’t help that Jihoon knows how Daniel’s father mistreats him -in more specific terms, _abuses_ him- and now Jihoon is almost certain that Daniel’s sudden disappearance has something to do with his family.

He drums his fingers on the table, hundreds of thoughts running through his mind. Where could Daniel possibly be? At home? At work?

A thought strikes him and makes him break out in a cold sweat.

Or is he injured again to the extent that he cannot make it to school?

It’s the fifth period and Jihoon simply can’t wait for school to end. Daniel may be in grave danger for all he knows, and as a good friend, he definitely can’t just sit and wait.

“Park Jihoon, you answer this question.”

Mr. Sohn snaps him out of his trance when he picks on him out of the blue. Jihoon stops rocking on his chair with a look of contempt on his face. 

“Root of 5,” he answers after a quick mental calculation.

The teacher raises a brow, though he doesn’t seem surprised that Jihoon is able to answer his question despite having obviously neglected his teachings and paid little attention in class. After all, within Jihoon lies great potential and talent, and he'd been the one who'd rejected the offer to be placed in 6A.

“That’s correct. But stop rocking your chair, boy, and jot notes.” 

Mr. Sohn always gives 6D a good lecturing on their manners, though no one actually cares. However, they have respect for him just because he doesn’t treat them like they’re the worst class of the grade. In fact, he sees them as normal students, and that’s why the everyone in 6D is relatively less hostile to him.

“I’m feeling sick, sir. I’m taking leave.”

Mr. Sohn shifts his gaze from Jihoon to Daniel’s empty seat, smiling knowingly as he points at him with his marker pen. “Just this once.”

Jihoon swings his backpack over his shoulder and nods at Mr. Sohn before stepping foot out of the classroom. After he shuts the door behind him, he picks up his pace and rushes along the corridor.

As he runs at his top speed down the stairs, he nearly bumps into a tall figure. Thanks to both their quick reflexes, no one is harmed. Jihoon grasps tightly onto the rail as he freezes on the top step, while the person whom Jihoon had nearly knocked over is a step below, his back sticking to the railing.

Jihoon frowns and mutters a quick apology before trying to get pass the figure when a long arm blocks his way.

“Where are you going? You have class, don’t you?” A familiar voice drifts into his ears.

“How’s that any of your business-” Jihoon stops the moment he catches a glimpse of that person’s face, growing increasingly irritated. “Oh, it’s you.”

Said person is Lai Guanlin of course, radiating a sense of disgusting righteousness and maturity that belongs to someone worthy of the student council president title.

Guanlin frowns at his tone and the annoyed look on his face, but doesn’t comment on it. “Any student’s business in this school is my business.”

“No, it’s not.” Jihoon takes in a deep breath and tries very hard to resist punching the boy in the nose and wrecking his pretty face because _he is not in a good mood right now_. “That’s called a violation of privacy. I have the right to keep silent about my own business. Look, this is not the time to argue. I have urgent matters to tend to, if you’ll excuse me.”

Jihoon tries to sprint down the other side of the staircase but he is yet again blocked by Guanlin. When he makes several other attempts, he finds himself tiring as he fails to get past this human blockade.

Jihoon groans. “Leave me be, please.”

“I will. But if I’m correct in that you’re trying to find Kang Daniel, his parent just notified the school that he’s been missing.” Guanlin’s lips quirk up, as if he just _knows_ Jihoon had wanted this particular piece of information so badly. Seeing his cocky expression, Jihoon narrows his eyes, ready to just slam the boy’s face in the wall and wipe off that nasty smile. 

Guanlin doesn't let him have the chance, since he starts heading up the staircase without hearing his response, drawing the nonsensical conversation to a close. 

Jihoon simply scoffs and continues on his way.

Not long after, Jihoon finds himself standing in front of the worn out door of a small storage space that is Daniel’s home. He doesn’t know whether Daniel is in there or not, and he debates on whether or not to go up and knock. Jihoon knows his father’s temper, and though he doesn’t fear risking his own life, he’s afraid that him visiting would cause trouble to Daniel.

Just as he ponders on actually calling the police, a woman comes by and with two bags of groceries, looking strangely at him.

“Young boy, why are you standing there?” She asks, a crease forming between her brows.

“Hello madam,” Jihoon dips his head and greets the woman. “Do you happen to live nearby? I’m a friend of the resident who lives here-”

“You’re a friend? Of the boy who lives here?” She scrutinises Jihoon, especially focusing on the school crest on his uniform as if wanting to confirm something.

Jihoon nods.

The woman gasps and puts down her bags to gesture for him to stand next to her. “Come, come.”

Jihoon obliges, scuffling closer to the woman as he dips his head and listens in interest.

“You’re wearing the same uniform as him,” she says in a lowered voice, nodding at his attire. “So I’ll tell you this, in hopes that you can help that poor boy. My husband told me not to butt into other people’s business, but I reckon I can’t just stand by and watch this time.” She shakes her head, a look of concern on her face.

Jihoon frowns but continues to listen, a wave of apprehension washing over him the moment she’s spoken.

“Is that boy living with his biological father?”

“In my knowledge, yes,” Jihoon answers, raising a brow at the question. “You know what happened to Daniel?”

The woman sighs. “If you have time, let me tell you what happened as we continue walking. I live there, the building next to this shed. Let’s not stand around here just in case the father spots us.”

Jihoon nods, and out of basic chivalry he helps her carry the grocery bags.

“You’re such a good boy,” she says, smiling gratefully as they walk on.

During their talk on the way down the street, Jihoon finds himself growing increasingly horrified as he hears details of Daniel being abused. He’d never realised that a man as strong as Daniel, with as stubborn a personality as his, would completely fall victim to that drunkard and gambling addict of a father. Though Jihoon had noticed the countless wounds Daniel would come back to school with, they’ve always been heavily bandaged, so he’s never witnessed the extremity of the violence.

It turns out that the conflicts between Daniel and his father had been so loud that they’d drawn attention from all around the neighbourhood, but no one had enough courage to knock on their door and tell Daniel’s father off or call the police. This has always been a peaceful neighbourhood and apparently they weren’t about to disrupt it for some ‘petty abused delinquent’.

At this point Jihoon grasps tightly at the grocery bag handle, bundling up his fists as anger rises within him. Daniel is just eighteen for all he cared! And these neighbours, such pitiful excuses of human beings, weren’t even willing to _help_ Daniel?

“When I offered help to the boy,” the woman explains, “He declined, saying that it was alright. He’s actually very sweet, and he always smiles and greets me whenever he sees me around.”

“Do you know where he went yesterday?” Jihoon asks as they stop in front of the building where the woman lives. 

She shakes her head and apologises. “But he’s in a bad state and needs to be taken care of immediately. I saw him run out yesterday after I came back home from a dinner gathering, and he was bruised all over. He was bleeding, too.”

Jihoon thanks her and hands over the grocery bags before sprinting off, his heart thudding heavily against his chest.

_Daniel, please be okay._

* * *

“And why are you telling me that, Guanlin?” Seongwoo says, carefully transferring the notes for Korean history from his notebook onto his textbook.

“Just thought you’d want to know,” the other boy replies, fixing the pair of glasses on his nose bridge as he sorts out the documents on his table. “After observing your banter yesterday, I assumed you and Kang Daniel were acquainted.”

“We’re not,” Seongwoo says, not slowing down his study pace as he speaks. 

“Alright.” Having no intention to irk Seongwoo, Guanlin decides not to press further. “Anyway, can I ask you one more time-”

“I have no intention of joining the student council,” comes the outright rejection before Guanlin even finishes his sentence. 

Sighing, Guanlin shrugs and staples the documents in hand. It was worth a try, he thinks. “Fine.”

While they continue in their respective work, a girl suddenly walks up to Seongwoo. Guanlin raises a brow in surprise as he shifts his gaze from the girl and to the bunch of female students standing at one corner of the classroom, waiting silently as they observe her.

Seongwoo is popular since he’s handsome, smart and rich. A perfect combo, basically. However, girls rarely approached Seongwoo as he was too cold to give them any of the response they desired; often times they would admire him from afar.

“Hello, Seongwoo,” she says with a bright smile on her face. Guanlin is impressed with her confidence, to say the least. “Sorry to bother you, but the whole class is concerned about your relationship with Dan- that… delinquent.” 

Seongwoo doesn’t even spare her a look as he continues with his notes.

The girl obviously notices this, but she hardly makes any move to leave. The smile remains on her face, even though the more Guanlin looks at it, the more he finds it stiff and forced.

“Whatever happened yesterday has greatly affected our class’s studying atmosphere, so we’re hoping you would give us a warning if it were to happen again. Of course, it would be best if you can guarantee there won't be a second time.”

Seongwoo finally stops writing and looks up, and on his face Guanlin can see a flash of irritation. “Who are you?”

Her brow twitches, as if she’d expected him to know. “I’m the class monitor. Eun Hee.”

“Well, class monitor,” Seongwoo murmurs. The girl’s eyes light up the moment Seongwoo mentions her position. _How naive_ , Guanlin thinks as he shoves the documents into a folder. “You’re disturbing my studies. So leave.”

The smile almost drops from her face, but she quickly regains her composure. “Okay. But we’ll be expecting your explanation at some point.” With that, she strides back to her seat to pick up her backpack, hurriedly leaving with the bunch of girls that had moved out from the corner.

“You should head home soon,” Guanlin reminds him. “All classrooms on this floor will be locked early because some guests from another school will be visiting.”

Seongwoo puts down his pen and organises his notes before putting them into his bag.

“Unless,” Guanlin tries. “You want to join our council meeting downsta-”

“See you tomorrow,” Seongwoo waves at him briefly before stepping past him and then out of the door, leaving Guanlin alone in the room.

Guanlin pouts, a rare gesture of childishness that he’s never shown in front of people he isn’t close to.

“We’re still lacking a member though…” he mutters sadly to himself.

Meanwhile, Seongwoo heads down the stairs and across the field towards the school gate. His gaze drops on several students that are running rounds on the track, accompanied by the coach’s occasional whistles and shouts.

It's strange, the way that they remind him of no other than Kang Daniel, the brute that he had accidentally bumped into in the alley that other day. He'd been wearing the school tracksuit too, with his sleeves rolled up in an unruly manner, exposing the strong muscles of his lower arm.

Seongwoo has to admit that Kang Daniel had saved him that day. If it weren’t for him, Seongwoo doesn’t doubt that he would at least be half crippled by now. Though his father wouldn’t dare kill him in the open, he would at least make Seongwoo go through enough pain to regret his decision.

Not that he regrets rejecting the business marriage… by claiming that he’s gay and has a boyfriend.

All in all, he's pretty lucky that the person who had witnessed him fighting in the alley the other day was Kang Daniel. 

First, he was strong; a total barbarian, yes, but very strong. His moves were swift and clean, and every blow he’d landed on his opponents were sharp and powerful. He was able to help beat every single one of his dad’s men, and that allowed Seongwoo get away in time. Not to mention, since Kang Daniel had the ability to protect himself, there was no need for Seongwoo to pay for his hospital fees or anything.

Then there's the fact that though Kang Daniel appears to be an badly reputed delinquent, he’s shown respect to Seongwoo’s privacy. Despite having suffered from various injuries when Seongwoo turned him into a target, he wasn't persistent on knowing about the details of the attack and dropped the topic immediately when Seongwoo requested it.

As he walks out of the school gate, he ponders on what Lai Guanlin had told him about Kang Daniel. Apparently, the boy only has one parent, which is his father. When the school called in to ask about Kang Daniel’s absence, the father had told them that he’d been missing since yesterday night, and that he had no idea where he’d gone.

 _A delinquent is still a delinquent,_ Seongwoo thinks, heading down the road to his home. Perhaps Kang Daniel was out there picking up fights as usual.

That’s when he catches sight of a crouched figure sitting on a bench.

Speak of the devil!

Seongwoo stops in his tracks and stares at the wilted form in front of him, narrowing his eyes as he sees signs of red, purple and blue all over the boy’s body. He shifts his gaze from the boy to the residential building in front of him, realizing immediately that he’d been waiting for someone.

It occurs to him that Park Jihoon, the one who had rejected to study in 6A despite his background and intelligence, lives on the same street as Seongwoo does. And in this particular building as well.

Then perhaps… this boy is waiting for his friend in front of his residence?

Seongwoo takes a few steps closer until he stands right beside the boy, not making a sound when he does so. The boy seems to notice a change in his surroundings and raises his chin a little, turning his head to have a good look at the person standing next to him.

Seongwoo hadn’t expected the sight before him so the moment he has a chance to look upon Kang Daniel’s face, he’s instantly startled by the beaten up state.

Kang Daniel recognizes him, too, but he doesn’t look like has much strength to get rid of him. Instead, he just sighs, resuming his position as he supports his head with a hand.

“Just you, huh.”

Seongwoo says nothing, standing there quietly as he observes the wounds that are scattered all over Kang Daniel’s body. That handsome, well sculpted face had been beaten so badly that the areas around the left cheek are extremely swollen and bruised. There are hints of dry blood at the corners of his mouth, and his entire appearance is dotted with dark red and purple, clouding all hints of his original features.

His face, however, is not the only part injured. Seongwoo catches glimpses of open wounds on his arms, and his hands seem to have been pierced very badly by many sharp objects. Glass shards, maybe? His long trousers cover his legs so he cannot see if there are any injuries there, but he doubts that his lower body had been exempted from whatever torture he’d gone through.

“Hey, do me favour. You owe me one anyway,” Kang Daniel speaks up again, his voice hoarse and tired. “Help me call Park Jihoon.”

“I don’t have his number,” Seongwoo replies bluntly.

Kang Daniel looks at him again, and though there’s a spark of rage in it, he can also see the pleading in his eyes. Seongwoo frowns. A boy like him, with an ego so big… The look doesn’t suit him.

“Fine,” he growls. “Do you have a portable charger then?” He holds up his phone and presses on it multiple times, but the screen doesn’t flicker on.

“No, I don’t.”

Kang Daniel breathes in sharply, looking extremely irritated at his response. But before he can snarl back at him, Seongwoo stops him with something he hadn’t even expected saying himself.

“Sorry.”

Hearing the apology, Kang Daniel raises his brow in surprise, but winces immediately from the movement.

“It’s fine,” Kang Daniel replies, a little uneasily. He stands up, legs wobbly, grasping at the side of the bench to support himself. His breath hitches immediately, and he clutches at the side of his stomach as he folds himself in again.

“You need to go to the hospital,” Seongwoo tells him good naturedly.

“I don’t have the money, unlike you-”

Swiftly, Seongwoo hold up his arms and catches the boy who toppled forward, the heavy weight causing him to grunt. 

To Seongwoo’s frustration, the boy makes no move to stand back up.

“Hey,” Seongwoo says, discomfort spreading through his body slowly. He stares at the lump he’s holding and shakes the boy in his arms, but the boy stays limp.

That’s when he realizes that his right hand has come in contact with a damp part of the fabric. Adjusting the boy in his arms, he raises his hand that had been at Daniel’s side to have a look at what he’s touched.

It’s blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I've been busy so I haven't had the time to write and update my fics. Hopefully this chap gave you guys some sort of relief (?) Anyway since The Allure of Magnolia requires a little more planning than this fic I'll be updating this first.


	4. Chapter 4

Daniel’s eyes flutter open slowly.

He feels a mild light drift within his sight; a soft, yellowish one, the kind of light that reminds him of a rich person’s house. The bed is soft and bouncy, the mattress silky to the touch. He's never experienced such luxury before; he only had one bed at home, which his father often occupied. He slept on the floor with a few rugs below him, a cushion as a pillow, and depending on the weather, one to four blankets over him. Those memories make the experience of lying in a queen sized bed, with an actual mattress below him and some high quality blankets covered over him, seem like a dream.

But that’s when it occurs to him that he’s not at _home_.

He jolts up from the bed and almost lets out a painful screech when he feels a stab of pain at the side. He holds up the clean shirt and glances down to see a few rounds of bandages meticulously wrapped around his stomach, and the white bandage on the area where he felt pain had a slowly growing patch of blood.

Daniel groans, head a little dizzy from the blood loss. He probably tore open a wound just now.

Putting a hand over the stained patch of bandage, he swings his legs down the side of the bed, this time in a more careful manner. He roughly grabs at the roll of tissue at the table next to the bed and gets a generous amount before clasping it over the damp area of the bandage.

In a poor attempt, he prevents the leaking blood from staining the creamy white bed sheets.

 _Whose home is this?_ he questions himself as he tries to recall the previous events while glancing around in the room. It’s quite a small room, but he’s not complaining. His entire living room might as well be this size. The design is rather comfortable with a style of modern luxury, in stark contrast of his trash of a home. The room smells of expensive wood and a mild aroma of flowers, probably coming from the orchid stash in the vase across the room. There’s an enormous bookshelf sticking to the side of the wall, and it occurs to Daniel that whoever lives here must be a studious person.

“You’re awake, finally.” A familiar voice rings in his ears. “I was debating on whether or not to force you into the hospital, regardless of your complaints.”

Daniel turns slowly towards the door, avoiding tearing up his injury even more. The voice, of course, belongs to Ong Seongwoo.

At the sight of the boy, Daniel starts to recall some of the things that had happened. He’d been beaten by his father till he nearly passed out from the exhaustion and pain, then he ran away from home in the chilly morning. Afraid to bother Jihoon, he went to a nearby park with public toilets and to wipe away the blood on the surface of his skin. Needless to say, he was still heavily wounded and needed some desperate help, and by the time he actually felt too weak to go on he had resorted to waiting in front of Jihoon’s home. Then he met Ong Seongwoo and blacked out.

“Is this your home?” Daniel asks, tone a lot gentler than before. No matter how much he doesn’t want to admit that Ong Seongwoo had saved him, that was the truth, and he should thank him like a man. “I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“I accept your apology,” Seongwoo says, and though his voice remains cold, his eyes seem to show a little hint of surprise, perhaps at Daniel’s unexpected manners. Daniel wants to snort. His mother had taught him all the basic manners he needed to know.

"But now, you must come with me to the hospital.”

Daniel widens his eyes, a familiar fear flashing before his eyes. The hospital? He doesn’t want to go to the hospital. He _can’t_ go to the hospital. Not when he can still vividly recall the scene before his eyes, his mother bleeding to death on that white bed, people running around yelling orders and rushing various patients into the ER-

“Kang Daniel, are you listening?”

Ong Seongwoo’s voice snaps him out of his trance, and he looks up to see that the boy is already a few steps in front of him.

“I’m not going to the hospital,” Daniel shakes his head and says firmly, putting a hand over his chest to calm himself down from the panic.

“You have to.” Seongwoo nods his head towards his opened wound and scrutinizes him all over, paying special attention to the places that have obviously suffered damage. “I’m not going to let you bleed all over my place and die-”

“ _I’m not going to the hospital_ ,” Daniel repeats.

Seongwoo looks at him with narrowed eyes, meeting the ferocious gaze of the boy before him. 

Beneath that obvious difference in personalities, there is still a stone wall of stubbornness that they share between them. Both are stubborn men, with thoughts and ideas of their very own, and stances they would stick to even if it meant death. So what if they act differently? They are more similar in nature than they would even dare to admit.

“Suit yourself.” Seongwoo turns to walk out of the room but stops midway, as if he just remembered something. “I charged your phone. You should see it on my table.” After that, he strides out and shuts the door behind him gently.

In the silence of the room, Daniel sinks his full weight back onto the bed, the pain growing at the side of his abdomen as time goes on. He takes a look at the table, and there it is, the phone that has failed him many times, in many ways. There’s a clean wire connecting it to a plug in the socket, and Daniel realizes that Ong Seongwoo has actually helped him charge his phone as he requested.

He unwillingly climbs out of his bed with sluggish movements, slowly dragging himself towards the study desk and then detaches his phone from the cable. The screen flashes on after he presses on the side button long enough, and to his horror, he sees a huge bunch of notifications.

Feeling ashamed, he opens the texts that he’d received when his phone had died out.  
  
[8:30 am] where tf are u dude  
[8:45 am] yo u there??????  
[9:50 am] fine ur probs busy or sick but call me i need to know ur ok  
[10:30 am] its break u better get ur ass back to skl  
[12:00 pm] look dan r u fuckin ok??? Wtf u aint replyin to any of my msgs  
[13:38 pm] thats it im coming for u  
[15:27 pm] dude where r u?? Pick up my calls damnit!!! >:(  
[16:00 pm] KANG FUCKING DANIEL  
[16:00 pm ] IF YOU DON’T ANSWER MY CALLS THIS MOMENT I WILL WHOP YOUR ASS  
[16:00 pm] MY GOD Y MUST U DO DIS  
[16:01 pm] IS YOUR PHONE DEAD  
[16:01 pm] IT PROBABLY IS  
[16:16 pm] I GIVE UP  
[16:16 pm] CALL ME WHEN U CHARGE UR PHONE  
[16:16 pm] ...tell me u found somewhere to charge ur phone  
[16:20 pm] DO YOU HAVE UR WALLET WITH YOU??? HAVE YOU EVEN EATEN???? DID YOU STARVE YOURSELF THRU THE DAY  
[16:21 pm] shit i feel dumb msging someone who has a dead phone  
[16:21 pm] call me when see all this ^^  
[16:24 pm] you know wat just come find me at my home dad and moms not here anyway  
[20:06 pm] hey i hope ur ok, im calling the police if u dont reach me by tonight  
[20:49 pm] pls be ok  
  
Daniel takes a look at the clock. Shit. It’s already nine thirty. He must have slept quite a while at Ong Seongwoo’s. 

He clicks open his contacts and calls Jihoon.

It doesn’t take the other boy more than a second to pick up. _“Hello?”_ Jihoon nearly screeches into his ear, and Daniel flinches from the high pitched sound.

“Hey, I’m safe-”

Jihoon clears his throat, resuming with his usual voice as he cuts Daniel off. _“How safe? Safe as in, you’re not dead but you’re dying from blood loss, or safe as in, you’re not dead but you’re dying from something else?”_

Daniel guiltily wilts as he hears the rough sarcasm in Jihoon’s voice. “Uh… I’m not going to die.”

 _“Good.”_ There’s a pause on the other end of the phone. _“Wait, where are you right now?”_

“I’m at…” Daniel takes a look at his surroundings and to the shut door on his left. “You wouldn’t believe it if I told you.”

_“No, I would, because you’re can’t lie for shit.”_

Daniel sighs at the blunt response. It’s true. “I’m at Ong Seongwoo’s home.”

_“Ong Seongwoo? What? Why?”_

“I-” Taking a deep breath, Daniel admits slowly, “He saved me.”

The door pushes open, and in comes Ong Seongwoo with a first aid kit in hand. Daniel flushes a little from the thought that Ong Seongwoo had heard him admit to his vulnerability. He can’t confirm that, however, because the boy’s poker face remains. Daniel watches as he opens the first aid kit to take out a roll of fresh new bandages, some sanitizing alcohol, a tweezer and a bag of cotton balls.

 _“Daniel? Daniel!”_ Jihoon’s voice brings his attention back to the call.

“Uh, yes?”

_“Look, I know you’re tired, so I won’t bother you anymore right now. Whatever you’re doing at Ong Seongwoo’s place, I don’t care. But if you can’t find a place to return to or sleep for the night, come to me, alright?”_

Daniel smiles, his heart warming from Jihoon’s wholehearted support. His friend is always like this, selfless and kind, even to trash like him.

“Thank you Jihoon. Really.”

_“Yeah, yeah. Shut up and rest. Text me if you need anything. Bye.”_

Daniel puts his phone down and looks at Ong Seongwoo, who is carefully putting on a pair of gloves.

“What are you doing?” he asks, and he instantly regrets it the moment the boy turns to him and looks at him as if he were dumb.

“I’m going to sterilize your wound and wrap it in new bandage,” Seongwoo says, as if he should have known that when he saw all the equipment on the table. 

Daniel rolls his eyes. Of course he knew that. The boy has missed the obvious question _in_ the question. “But why?”

Seongwoo stops in his movements and looks at him strangely, seemingly reluctant to answer the question. He then pulls on the edges of his plastic gloves to make sure they are secure, and proceeds to open the bag of cotton.

“Why, you ask? You refuse to go to the hospital, but then apart from being heavily injured, you tear yourself another hole in the side of your abdomen from carelessness. Have a look at yourself in the mirror. You look barely alive.”

Daniel takes his phone and stares into it, and truly, his hair is disheveled, his eyes weighed down with eye bags and dark circles. There are patches of blue and purple all over him, and his lips are dotted with clotted blood.

“I don’t care what happens to you outside. I wouldn’t even blink an eye if you _died_ on the streets if I don’t have to witness it. But I will certainly not allow anybody to go around like that-” Seongwoo points at his horrific state. “-under my care.” 

Seongwoo’s words came out harsh, but Daniel somehow manages to finds some warmth in his words. Is it because he’s already reached such a desperate point in life? Or maybe it’s just something as simple as having someone who wants to see you live on, even if it’s only about being alive in their sight.

“Take off your shirt.”

Daniel obeys, taking off the now stained shirt of his (to be more accurate, Ong Seongwoo’s) in a swift movement and puts it on the table. He flinches at the cold air, but stays put as Ong Seongwoo approaches him with tweezers in his hand.

The pale skinned boy kneels before him, and it’s actually quite a sight. Seeing such a prideful human being in his glorious submissive form brings some sort of satisfaction to Daniel, perhaps because of the conflicts that had occured between him and Ong Seongwoo.

His giddiness is short lived, for when the cold plastic textured fingers grace upon his skin to unwrap the bandages, Daniel feels himself jolt from the touch. Seongwoo concentrates in his actions, slowly tying the knot of the stained fabric, and unwinding them slowly layer by layer. For some reason, Daniel feels more and more self conscious when Seongwoo’s pale arms go around him and before him in repetitive movements, sometimes sucking in his breath a little whenever Ong Seongwoo gets so close to his skin that he can feel hot breath against him. But before long, the process stops, and the red bandages drop into the trashcan with a small plop.

Ong Seongwoo takes the tweezers and pulls out a generous amount of cotton before drenching them in the nasty smelling cleansing alcohol. He doesn’t say ‘this will hurt’ or anything stupid like that, but he throws Daniel a look of warning, and the other boy just feigns courage in this situation.

The pain stings the moment the alcohol gets onto his wound, and Daniel bites down on his lip as he grips onto his pants. Ong Seongwoo smirks at his reaction, _that fucking bastard_ , and drags out the process, slowly dabbing the cotton against the expanse of his abdomen.

But while Daniel continues glaring daggers at the man before him, he keeps quiet, staying put just because, well, technically that man is helping him. On what grounds is he to complain?

The torment is over before he knows it, but he has already sweat a great deal. Ong Seongwoo puts down the empty bag, throwing the stained cotton into the trash. Then he unrolls the fresh new bandage and fixes it against Daniel’s side before repeating the movements he did earlier, until the white bandage is secured around Daniel’s stomach. Then he gives a hard tug on the bandage, causing Daniel to grunt and glare at him again. Ong Seongwoo’s lips quirk up while he cut the band from the roll and ties a tight knot.

“That should do,” Seongwoo says, pulling off his gloves and throwing them as well. “Come down for dinner. I don’t suppose you’ve eaten?

Daniel looks up in surprise. Dinner? That was certainly unexpected. No matter how much he disliked Ong Seongwoo, he had to admit that his hospitality extended far greater than he imagined.

 _I’m sorry, Ong Seongwoo_ , Daniel thinks to himself, an idea immediately occuring to him. _I might have to take advantage of that._

“Ong Seongwoo!” Daniel raises his voice, and Seongwoo halts in his footsteps, turning to him with slight annoyance.

“Let me stay at your place for the night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS, thIS IS PERFECT. BOOMERANG'S TEASER CAME OUT AND HOLY CANNOLI THE CONCEPT FITS MY FIC


	5. Chapter 5

Daniel is only halfway down the stairs when he smells the amazing aroma coming from the dining room. It doesn't smell like those oily takeouts of Korean or Chinese food, nor does it smell like his usual meals of instant ramen. The moment he arrives at the bottom, he sees Ong Seongwoo settling two bowls of rice on the opposite of the table and laying out chopsticks neatly in front of them.

He finds his stomach growling at the sight of such delicious looking food. There's a pot of braised meat, soaking up all the gorgeous dark sauce. Stir fried vegetables have never looked or smelled so good. Then there's a large bowl of smoking hot soup in the middle, steam rising steadily into the air. Daniel has never seen anything of the such, at least not in a broke student's home. Especially if he is living by himself.

Then again, Ong Seongwoo is anything but broke. It's strange, however, that he is not living with his family. It's even stranger to Daniel that someone like him could cook or manage all on his own; he'd always imagined the rich kids in the 6A class to have poor sense of self management due to having been born with a golden spoon in their mouths.

“What are you standing there for?” Seongwoo settles on one end of the table, staring at Daniel as if he is the weird one here.

Daniel grunts and walks over to his place, plopping into his seat carelessly and wincing at the vigorous movement that just triggered the pain from his wound. To his dismay, he catches a despicable smirk on Seongwoo’s face, and he immediately feigns nonchalance as he raises his arm to take hold of the chopsticks.

“You made these yourself?” Daniel says, raising a brow. When Seongwoo doesn't answer, he snickers. “You'd make a pretty wife.”

Sadly, Seongwoo doesn't so much as flinch at his offensive remark, and only proceeds to eat quietly.

What a boring man, Daniel thinks to himself, rolling his eyes as he puts a piece of braised meat into his mouth. 

His eyes widen the moment the taste sinks in. He's never had anything so luxurious. The meat practically melts in his mouth and the sauce fits it perfectly. He's not much of a food critic, but this kind of home cooked food is definitely of great quality. It's the first time in his life that he's tasted anything near this.

“What, never had veal before?” Seongwoo observes his change of reactions in amusement.

“Veal?” Daniel looks at him blankly. He's never really heard of that.

“It's-” Seongwoo is quick to contain his shock, and sighs. “Nevermind.”

“I've never eaten anything that is not cheap restaurant takeout or instant food,” Daniel explains casually, knowing that rich kids couldn't possibly understand. “Mom died when I was seven, and that was the last time I had anything near a home cooked meal.”

Daniel hears Seongwoo stop in the middle of the meal, and he looks up to see the boy giving him a searching gaze, as if he is trying to figure him out. 

Daniel chuckles. “Shocked, now? I didn't know you were capable of sympathy.” He didn't expect to blurt out anything about his mother's death either, especially not to this rich kid Ong Seongwoo, whom he hasn't even interacted with much.

“I'm not sympathizing,” Seongwoo replies simply, quickly resuming in his meal. “Why should I pity someone who doesn't pity himself?”

It's Daniel’s turn to be shocked. Not because he couldn't get Ong Seongwoo’s sympathy, but because he resonates with that thought. He'd received looks of pity from people around him when his mother died, and fake comfort from relatives that he hasn't even seen since then. Just who are they to pity him, when he doesn't even pity himself? One’s situation can be viewed in many ways, and Daniel chooses to look at his mother's death as a reminder that he must take good care of himself _for_ himself.

“You're very interesting,” Daniel says, finding himself smile genuinely for the first time in many days. He can't help it, he can't _resist_ it. “What if I told you I pity myself over something? Would you take pity on me in that case?”

Ong Seongwoo still hasn't agreed to let him stay over. It doesn't matter, since he hasn't given a proper rejection either. So he still sees hope in requesting for a night’s stay. It's not because he doesn't want to go to Jihoon; he actually really wants to, after all he knows Jihoon far longer than he knew Ong Seongwoo. However, that's also precisely the reason he wouldn't go to Jihoon, even if he had to loiter on the streets. Jihoon has helped him so much, has sacrificed too much for him. At one point, Jihoon even had a major fallout with his family when they found out that Jihoon was having contact with Daniel, ‘a _delinquent_ ’. Was Daniel dumb enough to cause any more trouble to Jihoon? No. Staying a night at Jihoon's home would cause his family to blow up on Jihoon again.

That is why, he just _has_ to try persuading Ong Seongwoo. It's not like the boy doesn't have the space, anyway.

Seeing Seongwoo’s indifferent response to his question, Daniel continues. “Aren't you even a little curious of how I got hurt? You have every right to know, actually, since you helped me.”

“Someone beat you up, with fists and heavy glass items that I'm assuming to be bottles. It was a very one sided fight. You didn't fight back.”

Seongwoo doesn't even look up when he says this, scooping up a small amount of rice between his chopsticks into his mouth delicately.

Daniel blinks in confusion. He didn’t tell him about that. “How did you know?”

“I can tell. From your wounds.”

Daniel is still quite baffled, but it doesn't take him long to put the pieces together. The large number of books on medicine, his clean and accurate treatment of his wounds, his faith in himself to help Daniel even though Daniel clearly needed to go to the hospital, his sudden helpfulness and his unwillingness to see him bleed to death… it all points to one thing.

“You're an aspiring doctor?” Daniel’s smile grows wider as he speaks. When he sees Ong Seongwoo freeze in that fraction of a second, he immediately knows he's got it right.

“Well, future doctor. What if I told you that you were the cause of my injuries? That I nearly died because of you?” That makes it all the more easier. If only he could take advantage of Seongwoo’s spirit of an aspiring doctor. A doctor wouldn’t allow his heavily wounded patient to sleep on the streets… right?

Now his words seem to have taken some sort of effect on Seongwoo, since the boy seems to have no intention of eating anymore. Seongwoo puts down his chopsticks and takes his bowl and utensils to the sink, switching on the tap.

Daniel leans back on his chair, crossing his arms as he stares at the boy’s back. “The day I met you in the alley I was going to deliver a package for my dad.” Daniel raises a brow as the boy continues to do the dishes, seemingly ignoring his words.

 _Think that can stop me? Dumbass, you’ve got to shut me out of the house to get me to stop talking,_ Daniel thinks, shaking his head.

“But much thanks to a certain _someone_ ,” he made sure to stress his words in the right areas, “I was late to deliver the _very important package_.”

Daniel frowns. Seongwoo has absolutely no reaction to what he says, and that irks him. Hurts his pride, really. He stands up and takes his now empty bowl and chopsticks towards the sink and leans in closely towards Seongwoo, ducking down to peer at the boy in a close distance. Seongwoo shoots him a cold glance before resuming his work in the sink, but makes no move to push him away.

“Let’s put aside the fact that the men could have beat me to death in the alley, _doctor_ ," Daniel rasps in his ear, a smirk creeping onto his face when he sees the pale boy flinch from him. “My old man was extremely mad at me yesterday because I was late to deliver the package to his customers. Meaning, thanks to you, my dear doctor, I almost got killed by my very own father.”

Seongwoo finally stops, putting the dishes down carefully in the sink and rinsing his soap filled hands with water before he turns of the tap. He takes his time to dry his hands and look at Daniel, eyes full of the challenge and fighting spirit Daniel had once wanted to see so badly.

"Oh?” Seongwoo chuckles, turning his body towards Daniel as he looks at him with an air of authority and what Daniel would call _a rich guy’s aura slash pride_. “And so?”

“So because of you, I have nowhere to return to for the night. To repay me, you should let me stay in your home for the night.”

“I refuse,” Seongwoo says without hesitation, cold eyes blazing into Daniel’s soul. The rejection had come more quickly than Daniel had expected, but that’s alright.

“You will regret it,” Daniel inches his face closer to Seongwoo’s, daring him to speak more. “I suggest you allow me to sleep over.”

“Or else?" Seongwoo backs down a little, wanting to keep a certain distance between him and the other boy.

“Or else…” Daniel quickly traps the boy in front of the sink, his arms at each side of his body. The further Ong Seongwoo bends his back against the sink, the more Daniel leans into him, which finally draws a look of unease from the opposite. "I will eat you up.”

"I will call the police-”

“You think I’ll let you do that? Or do you think,” he fixes two fingers under Ong Seongwoo’s chin to hold it up firmly, “you can beat me in a fight?”

Seongwoo hisses between his teeth, using a free hand to swat Daniel away. He is, however, still trapped under that stone wall of a man, and he wouldn’t be dumb enough to think that he could actually take Daniel on in a one on one fight, would he?

“You let me in your home, and that may have been your biggest mistake,” Daniel says, shaking his head as if he is showing disapproval to a kid. “If you don’t want me to do anything to you…” He sees Ong Seongwoo’s eyes narrow in disgust, and that just makes his heart soar in delight. “And by that, I mean, things like…”

Daniel cups the boy’s face in his right hand, dragging his rough thumb over the smooth textured lips.

“You’re disgusting,” Seongwoo turns his face away, a look of something close to hatred making its way to his handsome features.

“And you’re not? Making your dad’s men think I’m your _boyfriend_. Though I’m not sure under what context you had to put us in that position, why don’t we make that true, hm?”

Seongwoo breathes out a slight groan and pushes Daniel away with all the strength he has, causing the other to stumble a little backwards. He takes his chance to grab on a knife, pointing the sharp end to Daniel, who looks at him in mild surprise. Daniel raises his two hands, backing away slightly from the boy.

“Alright, alright. Didn’t know you were homophobic,” Daniel jokes, running a hand through hair. This Ong Seongwoo boy must be really messed up to be actually pointing a knife at him.

“You’ll have to be more than stupid to think that I’ll allow you in my house tonight after you threatened me like that,” Seongwoo says, his voice itself freezing the air around them as he approaches Daniel slowly with the glinting knife tip facing him. “Get out.”

“Put that thing down, and we’ll have a proper talk-”

“Get out, you filth.”

Whatever smile that remained on Daniel’s face slips away, slowly replaced with a gruesome scowl.

“Filth? Is that how your kind sees us?”

“My kind?” Seongwoo laughs, a sound that lacks any sort of warmth. “Enlighten me. What is my kind and what is yours? I’m sorry, I seemed to have misjudged you. You must have great pity for yourself and your social status, thinking that just because you’re the poorer of the bunch you’re the saddest, most pitiful people on earth.”

"Let me tell you, Kang Daniel,” Seongwoo puts a hand on his shoulder and the knife tip dangerously close to his chin. “You’re absolutely wrong. We are more similar than you think. And I’d willingly exchange my place for _yours_ any day, even if it means I’d have to run away from home. You know what? You’re lucky enough to even be granted the privilege to run away."

“Try being me for a day and you’ll know that, being rich, isn’t _everything_.”

Daniel finds himself lacking the ability to retort. He allows himself to be shoved out of the apartment, and the slamming of the door is the last thing he hears before he helplessly walks to the nearby park to rest.


	6. Chapter 6

_Ding. Ding._

Jihoon groans, flipping to the side so he can throw another pillow over himself and shut out the annoying sound coming from the living room.

_Ding. Diiiiiiing. Ding. Ding._

“For fuck’s sake,” breathes Jihoon before he throws the pillow in his arms across the room and takes a look at the clock. It's 7 am in the morning, which means it's probably time for him to get up anyway. Maybe he should go answer the door.

_Ding. Ding._

“Shut up!” He yells, not even caring if he would disturb his neighbours by doing so. He swings his legs over to the side of the bed and clumsily wears his slippers before making his way into the living room in a haze.

Jihoon grabs the handle of his door and swings it open violently. “Why this early in the morning-”

He stops in the middle of his sentence when realization hits him. Isn't the person in front of him Kang Daniel?

“Sorry.” Daniel looks a little embarrassed, having disturbed his friend in his sleep. His hand comes up to scratch awkwardly at the back of his head, and Jihoon sighs.

“No, it's okay. I need to head to school anyway. Come on in.”

Daniel shuffles into the living room carefully, and Jihoon watches as the boy shifts in awkward movements. After Daniel takes off his shoes with some difficulty, he heads into the huge living room and sits slowly down onto the couch as if there is something restraining his movements. All of this is captured in Jihoon’s eyes, and he frowns when he recalls what Daniel’s street neighbour had told him.

“Wait there,” Jihoon says before crossing his arms and striding to the kitchen. “Have you had breakfast yet?” He yells out into the living room.

“No.”

Daniel’s deep rumble of a voice can easily be heard even if he doesn't shout. Jihoon shakes his head, since he already knew the answer when he asked it.

He puts on an apron and walks out from the kitchen. Daniel raises a curious brow at him.

“How does omelette and toast sound?”

“Heavenly,” replies Daniel, his lips quirking up at the side. “Nice apron, by the way.”

Jihoon stares down at his Rilakkuma apron and rolls his eyes at his best friend’s snickering before heading back towards the kitchen. 

“Laugh more and you won't be getting breakfast,” he shouts into the living room, and sure enough, the snorting stops, and he's left alone with the sizzling of butter on the skillet and the sounds of his knife chopping through the ham. He puts the diced ham aside and starts grating the cheese, his bangs dropping like a curtain in front of his forehead as he focuses on his cooking.

Cooking has always been a side hobby of his whenever he feels stressed or lonely. His parents often criticizes him about it because it makes him seem feminine, and he should man up and let the maid do everything instead. Jihoon, however, insisted that he did not need a maid and could manage all by himself. As a result, Jihoon practically lives here alone. It's a home big enough for a family of seven, but Jihoon can hardly call those cold hearted people his family, especially when they don't bother to visit Seoul anymore now that they have their companies to take care of in different places. Sometimes he thinks that they consider their businesses their children instead of Jihoon.

Biting on his lower lip, he cracks four eggs into the bowl and mixes it quickly before pouring the mixture into the hot pan. The sizzling becomes louder and he smiles.

It's a good feeling, knowing that someone is there to appreciate your cooking.

Jihoon takes his wooden chopsticks and moves it around to let the uncooked mixture of the egg roll onto the hottest bits of the skillet. Humming a little tune, he watches the egg settle and puts in the diced ham and grated cheddar before folding the cooked egg into half.

“That smells amazing,” he hears someone compliment him from the side, and Jihoon doesn't have to look to know that Kang Daniel is almost drooling over the kitchen top. A warm smile tugs on Jihoon’s lips when he serves the omelette on a plate and pushes it to the side.

“Don't eat that with your hands, you barbarian,” he reprimands with half seriousness before Daniel can even manage to lay his hands on the plate. "You will have to look around if you want to use forks and knives. Or would you prefer to eat it with chopsticks?”

Daniel doesn't say anything and just beams at him before reaching for the chopsticks in the top cabinet, already familiar with the kitchen because of his last visit.

“Thanks, you're the best!”

This he says before grabbing a knife and cutting the omelette carefully in the middle. He's so focused on the food that he doesn't see the Jihoon freeze in the middle of putting the bread into the toaster, nor does he witness him almost dropping the plate he is holding.

“Just take that to the table. There's milk in the fridge and tea bags in the jars, though I'm pretty sure you'd prefer just milk,” Jihoon says, careful not to show any emotion through his words. Daniel misses the hint and cheerfully takes out the milk carton out of the fridge.

“I'll wait for you outside before I eat, since I'm such a good friend,” Daniel says playfully before heading out of the kitchen.

Jihoon drops the two slices of bread into the toaster and sighs the moment Daniel steps out, raising a hand and pressing it against his forehead as he recalls his sudden loss of composure when Daniel delivered a personal praise.

He shakes his head at himself before taking out the peanut butter and apricot jam from the fridge. He's such a joke. He should be over Daniel by now. It's been so many years, and their relationship is probably never going to work. Last he remembered, Daniel was around on the streets sucking face with some random girl. Daniel is straight. He has no chance.

Jihoon bitterly smiles when he takes out the toasts. It was okay if Daniel didn't like him back. It was really fine. But it hurt him to know that even in desperate times, Daniel wasn't willing to rely on him as a best friend. Take yesterday for example. Why would he be at Ong Seongwoo's place instead of his?

A horrible thought occurs to him. Did Daniel sleep over at Seongwoo’s?

Jihoon spreads the jam and butter slowly, trying hard not to crush the toasts with his hands. It's not the first time Daniel has rejected his assistance. Over and over again, Daniel had told him it was okay, that he wasn't starving despite having not eaten for days, that he was getting on just fine even if he had dark circles under his eyes indicating his hard work late into the night, that his father wasn't too bad to him despite coming back to school with poorly stuck bandaids and badly hidden blood stains or fading bruises.

Jihoon flicks the butter knife into the sink in frustration before he carries the plates into the dining room, immediately hiding his annoyance with a brightly lit smile.

“Come on. We’ll be late to school if we don't finish breakfast now,” Daniel says, finally picking up his chopsticks when he catches sight of Jihoon.

“Like you care if we're late,” Jihoon snorts before placing the toasts on the table and pouring out a glass of milk for himself. “I need to wash up first. Go ahead and eat.”

Kang Daniel pouts but he digs in anyway. “The food will be cold if you don't be quick,” he says in between bites, voice muffled from the food in his mouth.

Jihoon shakes his head at the childlike figure before he goes to the bathroom and shuts the door.

He needs to stop thinking about Kang Daniel like that.

Turning on the tap, he uses his top speed to brush his teeth and wash his face. Then he throws on his uniform and heads into his bedroom to grab a new, clean set of uniform for Kang Daniel to wear. It may be a little small for him, but it should fit. The pants would, at least, since they're two sizes bigger than Jihoon’s.

By the time he's out into the living room again, he sees Daniel looking up at him with puppy dog eyes and the cute little bunny teeth sticking out. Jihoon feels himself reddening but he instantly distracts himself by looking away.

“Uniform?” He says, holding up the clean set of clothes. Daniel’s eyes light up and he jumps out of his seat.

“You are honestly such a mom,” Daniel grins and pats Jihoon’s shoulder before snatching the clothes from his grasp. “A wonderful mom.”

“Shut up before I punch you.”

* * *

Seongwoo swipes the End Call button again. Not wanting to be pestered again by that persistent person, he switches his phone off.

Thanks to a certain troublemaker yesterday night, he hadn't been able to concentrate on his daily studies. It was a disruption to his routine alright, and he wasn't able to sleep properly afterwards. He hardly interacts with people, let alone snap at them, and his outburst in front of Kang Daniel was an effective drainage of his energy. 

Kang Daniel’s visit made him feel like he'd lost all ability of control in many ways. He had cooked a little bit too much for supper than they could both manage to eat, so he had leftovers to take care of for breakfast. He had packed some for lunch, too, so the rest wouldn't go to waste.

The neverending complaints run through Ong Seongwoo’s head as he takes his regular route down the hill towards school.

A car horn infiltrates the morning air, and Seongwoo frowns a little before moving to the side to allow the car to pass through. A black car Porsche Panamera pulls up next to him.

Seongwoo is about to walk on until he catches a brief glimpse of the license plate. 

He freezes.

A middle aged man steps out, his hair gelled slick and his beard neatly trimmed at the chin. His features are sharp, strict, and there's a crease plastered stubbornly between his brows when he strides towards Seongwoo. He is clad in a dark blue striped suit, a plain white shirt black tie enclosed within it.

“If it isn't my beloved fath-” Seongwoo starts with a mocking smile even as he braces himself for what is about to happen next. He is cut off by the swift movement of the man when he lunges towards Seongwoo.

The man grabs a fistful of his hair and drives him to a nearby wall, slamming his head into it roughly. It's hard enough to draw blood out of the skin, but not hard enough to make his skull crack. Seongwoo gasps when the impact hits him and he slides down the wall weakly, blood trickling down his face.

“You let that boy into your house, you brat?” The man spits at him, grinding his teeth when he punches the wall above a collapsed Seongwoo. “Your boyfriend, hm? And what's his name? Kang Euigeon?”

Seongwoo looks at the raging man before him and lets out a laugh. The blood reaches his mouth and he can taste copper, but he continues laughing, unable to hold back.

Kang Euigeon? Who's that? What a joke. To think his father failed to do an accurate background research on the boy who defeated his hired men. His father had no doubt been spying on Seongwoo these few days, and it only amuses Seongwoo, because this is the most attention his father has ever paid to him ever since he was born.

“You dare laugh?” His father, no, Mr. Ong growls, lowering himself so he can face Seongwoo directly. He uses a rough hand to cup Seongwoo’s face and slams it backward to the wall again, this time with enough strength to break a few layers of Seongwoo’s scalp, instantly making the boy dizzy from the hit.

“Sir, stop!” A panicked voice follows, and Seongwoo blurrily sees another figure approaching them. It must be Yoon Jisung, his former personal butler who had grown up with him until Seongwoo left home to buy himself an apartment in the middle of Seoul. “Please, he's just-”

“Stop? Who are you to command me?”

Before Mr. Ong can stand up and teach Jisung a lesson, Seongwoo grabs onto his wrist and jerks on it to prevent him from leaving. He can feel his father’s eyes blazing into him as he does so.

“Do not touch Jisung, or I will run off with my boyfriend and leave Korea immediately. I'm not joking. It's only a matter of time before I completely wreck your plans of inheritance, anyway.”

Seongwoo delivers the threat in a calm manner, his eyes focused onto the blurry vision of a man before him though he cannot see clearly.

“Impressive,” the man speaks, flinging off his hand violently before standing up. Seongwoo can feel the mocking smile in his voice. “Impressive, Ong Seongwoo. Now it's your turn to threaten me?”

“What do you propose that I do?” Seongwoo says, letting his head lean against the wall weakly. “I'm your only asset, after all.”

“You're right.” The man says, and Seongwoo can catch a whiff of a burning cigarette. “If you know that, you should also be clear that I would go to great lengths to make sure you marry Kang Mina and take over my branches in Korea as a straight, upright, well reputed CEO of Fantagio Incorporations.”

Seongwoo chokes when the man grabs his hand and a stinging hot object comes in contact with his palm. He looks down and sees with his disrupted vision a lighted cigarette pressed against his palm. The man presses harder, mercilessly, seeming to enjoy the boy’s squirming and his painful yelps in response to the torture.

“You shall not walk around bearing the same surname as mine while being a fucking queer and playing your little doctor games.”

The man finally lets go and Seongwoo jerks his hand away, tears brimming in his eyes from the sheer pain of the burn. He listens quietly to the leaving of the footsteps and the starting of the car engine. To his relief, the car vanishes as quickly as it appeared earlier.

“Seongwoo?”

He hears a gentle voice next to him, and a familiar cologne hits his nose. It smells of home.

“Let me help you get home.”

“No,” he breathes, softly clasping onto his old friend’s hand. “School. I need to go to school.”

Seongwoo can easily hear the frown in Jisung’s voice when he helps him up. “You need to get treated. How can you go like this? We should-”

“No, Jisung. Get me a few wet wipes, a bag of cotton and the antiseptic from my home. And a few bandages. I'll be fine.”

“Seongwoo-”

“I can't let my classmates suspect anything,” Seongwoo says, touching the back of his head and feeling the sticky red liquid between his fingers. “Just do it.”

“Okay,” Jisung sighs, knowing that he can't persuade the other. “There is one thing I need to tell you though.”

“What?”

“You may want to watch out for your boyfriend.” Jisung swings Seongwoo’s schoolbag onto his back before supporting him with an arm. “Mister seems quite insistent on eliminating him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> everyone has shitty families in this fic im sorry. Sadly situations like these actually happen. I know someone who's a social worker and she faces these kind of cases every day.


	7. Chapter 7

“Kang Daniel?”

Daniel blinks a few times in his drowsy state and looks up to see the head teacher of his class narrowing her eyes at him. He sighs and groans before getting up from his seat and heading towards the front of the classroom.

Mrs. Kim pulls up a chair for him to sit next to her and gestures for the class to continue in their self study session. Following Daniel’s extremely sharp and threatening gaze, everyone starts to bow their heads and focus on their work.

“Right, I’ve wanted to talk to you for a while. Have a seat,” she says, in a tone of mock politeness. Daniel has to resist rolling his eyes at her pretense. Everyone in the class knows how much she despises her job as Head Teacher of 6D, a class she had once described as ‘hopeless, uneducated trash’. Her smiles are sweet, but god knows what she’s thinking when she treats her students so nicely.

Daniel plops down on his chair and stares at his teacher directly, not at all cowering from her blazing eyes.

“Yes, teacher?” he says sarcastically, and he enjoys watching the teacher’s brow jump in anger.

“The school has been concerned about you.”

“What a surprise. They give most of their so-called concern to 6A, no?” Daniel retorts with a smirk, leaning his head into his hand on his propped elbow.

“You shut your mouth and hear me speak,” Mrs. Kim bluntly spits, having had enough of his attitude. “Firstly, regarding your financial issues. You still haven’t handed in this year’s school fee, and it’s already nearing mid term. Is there anything we can help you with?”

The last line sounds obligatory and scripted, and Daniel rolls his eyes. Help? How could they possibly help? Scholarships weren’t open to ‘trash’ like him. They were applied for by people in the 6A class, even though those who actually needed such financial support were people who lacked the money. 6A students certainly didn’t lack the money. How did they manage to go to so many tuition classes and get good grades as a result?

Seeing that Daniel has no intention of replying, Mrs. Kim continues. “If not, let’s talk about your future plans. Everyone in this grade has a clear vision of what their future is going to be like, and they’ve set goals for themselves. How about you?”

Daniel snorts. “Vision? Goals?” He leans forward and smiles coldly, shaking his head. “Mrs. Kim, those are for people who have _choices_ in their lives. Choice is a privilege that comes with money and perfect support from people around them,” he says through gritted teeth, venom seething through his voice. “And people like me? We don’t have _choices_. We struggle to live.”

“What’s my goal, you ask? It’s to live. My vision? The same.”

Daniel stands and his chair pushes backwards, drawing a loud sharp sound as it slides across the floor.

“Wait,” Mrs. Kim seems a little panicked at the sight of her student openly rebelling against her. “Have you thought of going to university, even? Here’s a list-”

“University?” Daniel huffs, glaring straight at his teacher. “If I didn’t know that the school was trying to get perfect statistics and prove to the world that everyone in this school could get into university because of the wonderful education it provides, I would’ve actually thought you cared.”

He turns on his heels and is about to head back to his table, when Mrs. Kim lets out an enraged shout.

“Kang Daniel! You stay right there!”

He sees the class look up for a second, shock and panic overriding their features. It doesn’t last long, because once they meet Kang Daniel’s signature death glare, they quickly bury their heads once again into the piles of work on their tables.

“As a student you have the duty to behave, and from your physical state we can see clearly that you haven’t been abiding to such rules. You have also shown utter disrespect to your teacher, and your words have greatly shamed the school. I’m immediately arranging a meeting between you and the principal, and he will decide what to do with you.”

Daniel can see Jihoon stand up with a pissed look, but he shakes his head to stop him from telling the teacher off. This is what he started, and he’s not about to pull Jihoon into the water with him. Sure enough, this teacher spouted bullshit and she should be taken care of, but the blame lies in this shitty school, who would do anything to beautify its reputation.

Daniel turns to Mrs. Kim, whose chest is heaving up and down from her reprimanding.

“Arrange it, please. I’ve wanted to see that fucker for so long, anyway,” he growls, before swiftly turning to leave the classroom.

He can almost hear Mrs. Kim’s scream and see her reddened face when he slams the door behind him.

It is certainly convenient to not have a bag with him. With two hands in his pockets, he walks along the corridor towards the staircase, craning his neck side to side lazily.

“You’re very talented, so I wanted to confirm your plans…”

Daniel hears some voices at the top of the staircase at the end of the corridor. Raising a brow, he stops in front of the 6A classroom and listens.

“... I’m sorry, I don’t know quite yet,” a familiar voice drifts into his ears. Daniel becomes instantly intrigued. Is that not Ong Seongwoo’s voice? Peering at the side, he sees the elite student and his Head Teacher standing near the staircase and talking. It was Class Period after all; teachers often used this time to communicate with students and get an idea of what their plans were after high school.

“You don’t know? What do you mean, you don’t know? I thought you wanted to become a doctor?” The teacher sounds slightly frustrated, as if he hadn’t expected such an answer.

“I’m not sure yet,” comes Ong Seongwoo’s calm, short reply.

“Why? A few weeks ago you seemed quite determined."

“...I’m sorry, Mr. Ha.”

The Mr. Ha that Ong Seongwoo had mentioned was probably Ha Sungwoon, the well qualified overseas professor that had recently joined the school because he had ‘seen hope in the students of this school’. Of course, the school had made use of such opportunity to give the A students a boost by assigning him as Head Teacher for their class.

If Daniel cared about his studies, he would have been jealous of 6A.

Daniel hears the teacher sigh. “Fine, fine. It’s natural for you teenagers to be indecisive at this stage, anyway. I hope you’ll come to a firm decision soon. I’ll be at the staffroom at most times, feel free to find me if you have any questions.”

“Alright, thank you.”

“Good, good. I’ll head down to fetch your class’ supplementary exercise books. Tell your class for me, won’t you?”

“Of course.”

Crap, Seongwoo is about to head his way for sure. Daniel widens his eyes and spins, not knowing where to go. He can hear the footsteps behind him and he curses silently under his breath. He can’t go back to his classroom because Mrs. Kim would kill him.

He looks to the side. 6A? No, he can’t. He’d raised enough of a commotion in that class earlier, and he wasn’t about to have more trouble with those annoying bunch of elites.

Well, fuck it.

He sighs and tries to naturally step his way past Ong Seongwoo, but he dumbly trips and falls over his own feet.

“Ouch,” he groans as he collapses onto the floor.

Daniel quickly pushes himself back up and brushes the dust of Jihoon’s pants. Looking up, he finds a familiar pair of amused brown eyes staring back at him.

His brow twitches when he sees the half smirk on the other boy’s face. Is he laughing at him for tripping? Fuck. He can almost feel his ears redden in embarrassment.

To add to his frustration, Ong Seongwoo easily brushes past him, as if they’ve never met before. Daniel blinks twice before turning around in disbelief, failing to wait for the cold teasing remark he had expected to get after falling.

“Ong Seongwoo!” he finds himself speaking before he can even stop himself. The boy stops in his footsteps, turning around with a blank expression.

“I thought you wanted to be a doctor?” he blurts. Even his words catch him off guard, and he frowns at himself for acting so nosy.

Ong Seongwoo turns to face him properly and his lips pull up on the side. “You’ve been eavesdropping?”

“Wha- What if I have? So what?” Daniel almost stutters, feeling more and more embarrassed of his actions.

Seongwoo hums. “You seem more interested in my life than I am.”

“What?” Daniel almost chokes on his words, and he crosses his arms. “I’m not.”

Seongwoo only regards him with amusement. “Sure.”

Silence falls between them. The corridor is near empty except for the two of them, one standing awkwardly and taking special interest in the door of the 6A class, and the other carefully scrutinising the boy before him, as if he is trying to figure him out.

“Well,” Daniel clears his throat, tearing his eyes from the classroom door. “I’m uh, sorry for yesterday night.”

When Seongwoo says nothing in return, Daniel bites on his lip and continues. “I should have thanked you like a man instead of threatening you. You had every reason to reject me from your shelter.”

“Yes,” Seongwoo agrees, his smile only spreading wider. It’s bright, it’s handsome, and it’s piercing to Daniel’s eyes. Daniel can bundle up his fists and refrain from lashing out at the other boy. “You were in the wrong.”

“I know. So I…” Daniel takes in a deep breath and exhales, saying almost painfully, "I request your forgiveness.”

“I don’t want to forgive you, though?”

“What?” Daniel looks at the other in disbelief, the vein on his forehead almost popping out.

“You owe me a lot, just remember that,” Seongwoo says simply before opening the door to his classroom, a proper smile gracing his lips. He shuts the door behind him, leaving an awe-struck Daniel behind in the corridor.

After a short while of intense glaring and overwhelming urges to land some punches on the wall beside him, Daniel grits his teeth and runs down the stairs to let off steam.

"That fucking bastard,” he curses as he runs.

* * *

“Is Ong Seongwoo smiling? Is this the Ong Seongwoo I know? What happened? Did heaven fall on you?” Guanlin throws rapid fire questions at his friend as soon as the other settles on his seat. “Did Mr. Ha give you some incredible news? Wait, that doesn’t make sense, you don’t even show _feelings_ on your face. What on earth happened to you?

“Would it kill you to be quiet for a second?” is the jab Seongwoo gives him immediately, quickly resuming to his normal state of emotionlessness.

“No? I don’t even talk much usually?” Guanlin exclaims incredulously at the unfair accusation. “You’re one of the new seven wonders of the world, I swear. I’m kicking out one of those legendary locations off so you can make the list.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“Of course I am! It’s called hyperbole.” Guanlin rolls his eyes at the book Seongwoo has plopped firmly in front of him as a barrier between the two. “Since you seem to be in a good mood, I’ll ask you again-”

“Take your student council recruitments to the other students of the grade.”

Guanlin crosses his legs and juts out his lower lip in displeasure. “They’re not good enough.”

“You can’t expect to find another me among the students, you know.”

Guanlin’s eyes widen and he almost jumps out of his seat. “Are you actually making a joke? What? You have humour?”

Seongwoo peers at him with narrowed eyes over the book. “What are you implying?”

“That the world is about to end,” Guanlin rolls his eyes to the back of his head, mocking a swoon. “Ong Seongwoo is not just a piece of blank cardboard, oh my gosh.”

Seongwoo lets out a little ‘tsk’ before returning to his book. Seeing that Seongwoo doesn’t seem to have any intention to entertain him anymore, Guanlin sighs and grabs onto the book between them, then slams it on the table.

“If you can name one candidate suitable for the student council vice president seat, and I find it valid, I won’t ask you ever again.”

“Don’t go back on your word,” Seongwoo says as he pulls his book from Guanlin’s grasp. “I can name one right now.”

“Oh? And who’s that?” Guanlin says with a smug smile, as if he knew that Seongwoo couldn’t possibly name a candidate better than himself.

“Park Jihoon from class 6D.”

Guanlin stops shifting excitedly in his seat and turns to face the boy in disbelief. “Wait, him?”

“Yes. Why not? His grades are perfect, and he does have a strange sense of self discipline.”

“Yes, but-”

“I gave you a valid pick, so leave me alone.”

Guanlin shrinks back in his seat.

He absolutely hates it when Ong Seongwoo has a point.

He also hates it because that’s always the case. 

Perhaps it’s Guanlin’s naturally rebellious soul as a teenager or his long time frustrations with Ong Seongwoo, he pulls his friend towards the 6D class with him for this sudden recruitment.

“I don’t understand what you’re bringing me for,” Seongwoo says, unamused as he feels himself being dragged across the corridor. 

“You know Kang Daniel right? That’s great. They’re friends, and so are we.”

“So?”

“Bigger chance of getting him to join, I guess?” Guanlin says brightly, and Seongwoo sighs, not having the heart to criticise the boy for his horrible logic and way of thinking.

Seongwoo feels a strange sense of deja vu when Guanlin opens the door of 6A cheerfully in during lunch, and every pair of eyes just seem to turn to them and stare into their very souls.

It’s not hard for Guanlin to switch to his student council president mode immediately, when he clears his throat and steps foot into the classroom.

“I’m looking for Kang Daniel and Park Jihoon,” he says, even more calm and composed than Seongwoo feels right now. The 6D class are rumoured to be extremely wild, and he has just confirmed it to be true. He sees scattered pieces of paper littered on the floor, and the students seem to have either been in the middle of a fist fight or some meaningless conversations. None of them seem to have a genuine concern for their academics. It was quite a sight to behold, especially to the two elites of the 6A class, who was constantly in an environment where people studied and studied and studied.

"Kang! Park!” one of the students near the door shouts to the back. “The pretty faces are looking for you!”

A few giggles and rough laughter run throughout the classroom, and Guanlin feels himself back up a step in unease. Seongwoo leans against the door frame with narrowed eyes, waiting patiently for the two people to come out.

“Pretty faces? I’ve seen many on the streets,” comes a snicker from the other end of the room. “Never seen those around.”

“They’re from 6A, probably!!” A girl from the far corner shouts. Though she looks pretty, she is wearing the physical education uniform and putting her legs up on the table, even chewing gum in the most obnoxious way possible. “Offer up your names if you want to see them,” she says with a tinkling laugh.

“Okay, that’s enough.”

The sounds in the classroom dies down, and Seongwoo follows the students’ gazes to the person at the very back. The student stretches and yawns slowly, as if he had just woken up from a good sleep.

“That’s Lai Guanlin and Ong Seongwoo,” another voice speaks up.

“Let’s go out and talk, then.”

The two people get up, and the rest of the class quickly go back to what they were doing earlier. Seongwoo finds it incredible and strange, the way the two of them seem to have the entire class under their control.

Park Jihoon swiftly shuts the door behind him when the four of them step out of the classroom.

“Yes?” he says with an unwavering smile on his face. If not for the impatience in his tone and voice, they would’ve easily been fooled by that striking grin.

“I’m inviting you to join the student council,” Guanlin follows without missing a beat.

There’s a pause before Jihoon takes a look at Daniel, then frowns. “Me?”

“Yes,” Guanlin says, nodding.

“Then what am I out here for?” Kang Daniel cannot mask the irritation in his voice. “I was sleeping. Someone would be happy to know that I didn’t have a good sleep yesterday night.”

“All your fault,” Seongwoo throws out the remark simply.

Jihoon and Guanlin glance suspiciously at the two but Jihoon makes no comment on their interaction. It’s Guanlin who blinks a few times before questioning something unbelievable to all of them.

“You two," he points to Daniel and Seongwoo, "are friends, right?”

“What?” Jihoon looks at him as if he were an idiot.

“No?” Seongwoo says at the same time with the exact same look as Jihoon’s.

“What the fuck?” Daniel spits out incredulously.

“Okay, okay.” Guanlin raises his hands defeatedly at the massive reaction. “Fine. No. I brought Seongwoo because I thought there was _some degree of truth_ in my statement-”

“No,” the both of them say in unison.

Guanlin looks at the two of them, looking extremely unconvinced.

“I’m not going to join the student council, by the way. If that’s all you wanted to ask, you can leave,” Jihoon says, not wanting to drag this conversation on any longer

“Wait, why?”

Jihoon frowns and points at the band on Guanlin’s sleeve. “We’re in our sixth grade. This is ridiculous. Find someone a grade below. I have better things to focus on.”

“I thought your class didn’t care about academics,” Guanlin says without thinking, but he almost immediately clamps his mouth shut after he realizes how offensive that might have seemed.

“Right,” Jihoon laughs, and that’s when Guanlin’s worries are confirmed. “Our class this, our class that. The day we don’t get classified by our classes, the world is bound to end.”

“That’s right,” Seongwoo fires back in a calm manner. “Don’t forget you’re not the only victims of that.”

“I blame the school and the streaming system for that,” Kang Daniel shrugs. “This is a pointless argument.”

Guanlin looks at them silently, his lips stretching into a wider smile every passing second. Seongwoo knows that look; it’s a look of trouble that he always wants to avoid. Throughout these few years of interacting with Lai Guanlin, he has learnt that the boy may seem mature on the outside, but there’s a little kid in him that threatens to come out and wreak havoc every once in a while.

This is certainly one of those times.

“How about the three of you all join the student council? If you’re looking to change the school for the better, that is.”

There it is. Guanlin’s utterly bad decisions.

Seongwoo puts his right palm on his forehead, almost wincing when the wound comes in contact with skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another work before my departure for my exams (death)! A thank you gift to yall for being such loyal, patient readers. In a week or so I'll be having my exams so you won't be seeing me here as often. Do drop comments (or your twitter) if you want to talk to me, I'll get back to you when I can <3 Thank you again.


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